Refrain from sexual activities, says community leader

By SAMUEL RAITANO
A COMMUNITY leader urged young men and women to refrain from sexual activities until they met their lifetime partners and got married in order to avoid contracting HIV.
Community leader of Tokarara suburb in Port Moresby, Tom Amukele, said with many nightclubbing activities and careless drunken behaviour in the city by the present generation, the risk of contracting the virus was high for young people.
 “In the past, marriage was taken as a special occasion where young men and women have reached adulthood and the whole community approved that they were lawfully wedded husband and wife. Only then did they engage in sexual activities,” Amukele said.
 While recalling the cultural values that had been long forgotten by today’s generations, he said there was no respect for their bodies as was in the past, and many young people engaged in the activity as if it was fun. 
He also said the introduction of condoms only encouraged evil practices like adultery and sex before marriage, which was against biblical values, as well as most cultural values.
The government spent a lot of money in the fight against HIV but it was common sense that mattered the most when it came to choices one had to make to avoid contracting HIV, he said.